Once a year, the forest of Hallerbos near Halle, Belgium, bursts into bloom, carpeting the woods in endless waves of bluebells. We felt lucky to catch it this year—and even luckier that we packed rain boots. The trails were muddy in places, but the misty atmosphere made the forest feel almost enchanted.

Between dodging raindrops, we also visited the Waterloo battlefield, where Napoleon faced his final defeat in June 1815. The rolling fields that seem so peaceful today were once the site of a clash that reshaped Europe. Napoleon’s French army met the allied forces of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army under Blücher, a battle that raged for hours and cost tens of thousands of lives.

Climbing the Lion’s Mound, we could look out across the entire battlefield and imagine how the armies would have moved across the landscape. The visitor center brought the story to life with immersive exhibits, making it easier for the kids to grasp why Waterloo is still remembered as a turning point in European history.

The significance of Waterloo can’t be overstated. Napoleon’s defeat ended more than two decades of near-constant war in Europe, closing the chapter on the Napoleonic Wars. In the years that followed, the Congress of Vienna redrew borders and set up a new balance of power designed to prevent another figure like Napoleon from dominating the continent. Waterloo became shorthand for total defeat—so much so that the word itself has entered everyday language. For us, standing there connected a day of sightseeing to the larger story of how Europe became what it is today.

It was a day of contrasts: the delicate, fleeting beauty of Hallerbos in the morning, and the weight of history at Waterloo in the afternoon. A reminder of how much Belgium can surprise you in just a single day.